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MOVIE GUIDE: L
Labyrinth (1986, Jim Henson)
After a slow and painful start, this fantasy about a girl's journey through a mystical world to track down her baby brother suddenly lights up with inspiration and excitement and doesn't really let up for the remainder. Even David Bowie comes off rather well. A bit dated, but Henson's imagination shines through. And a few scenes, one in particular, approach sublimity. (A-)
REVIEW & DVD review / MENTIONED: Christmas presents
L.A. Confidential (1997, Curtis Hanson)
Call it derivative and soulless all you want, but this fake film noir from renaissance-man Hanson is still monstrously entertaining, featuring top-quality work from Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, and (wow) Kim Basinger! This backward-looking mystery was one of the best films of the '90s. (A)
DVD review / MENTIONED: Black Dahlia speculation / top ten of week
La Dolce Vita (1960, Federico Fellini)
Fellini's magnum opus about decadent life at the turn of the decade is now well past its expiration date, overlong and annoyingly superficial. The first and last scenes are gorgeous, as is the satire of sensationalistic journalism at the midpoint, but aside from that, the whole thing is deathly dull. (C+)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / RELATED: Nights of Cabiria review
Lady and the Tramp (1955, Geromini/Jackson/Luske)
A return to form for Disney, this stunningly lifelike cartoon crafts vivid, sympathetic characters out of a group of neighborhood dogs and manages to create an incredibly complex story in the course of less than eighty minutes. Beautifully composed in CinemaScope, it's a movie that captures the beauty, wonder, and complexity of the early 20th century America of Walt's youth, but also its decadence and danger. No Disney film is more stylish, featuring the best voice work in any animated film of its period and some of the best songs in any film, ever, cowritten and performed by Peggy Lee ("Siamese" and "He's a Tramp" are godlike) -- and no Disney film wallows as much in misery. It still isn't up to the early standards raised by the studio, but there are bits and pieces of stunning mastery throughout. (A-)
REVIEW & DVD review / LISTED: best DVDs of year / RELATED: Joe Grant obit / animated realism / MENTIONED: Chicken Run review / The Plague Dogs review
The Lady Eve (1941, Preston Sturges)
Phenomenal, liberating, socially radical, unconventionally structured screwball is the very best kind of comedy, revealing the possibilities of the genre far beyond even most of Howard Hawks' best films. Green young Henry Fonda (brilliant) falls in love with crooked heiress Barbara Stanwyck -- love and heartache and anger ensue in a human, layered masterpiece. Don't even consider missing this. (A-)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated
The Lady from Shanghai (1948, Orson Welles)
Sensory overload. This bizarre, creepy Orson Welles project made for Columbia is a thriller too fast and furious for character connection, exposition, development. It never, ever stops to breathe. What story there is involves Welles (with ridiculous Irish accent) as a drifter who's taken in by Rita Hayworth, with whom he is unashamedly smitten, and her psychotic husband for a long boat ride. There are several of the most amazing scenes in cinema here, but there is nothing gluing it together. It's as if bits of a dozen different movies were thrown into a single piece to see how they fit. They don't, but they come close enough to warrant an intrigue. Prepare to be creeped out, confused, and dazzled. (A-)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / best of year / RELATED: The Stranger review / F for Fake review / MENTIONED: Diabolique review / Lady in the Water review / Fanny & Alexander debate / A Place in the Sun review
Lady in the Water (2006, M. Night Shyamalan)
Shyamalan's version of 8-1/2 or STARDUST MEMORIES is a failed hybrid of knowing pop commentary and fairy tale, but it is beautifully shot and well-acted, and throws around a number of wonderful ideas. (B-)
REVIEW / LISTED: most anticipated of year / rated / disappointments & movies seen in 2006 / MENTIONED: trailer / summer movie preview / bad box office / movie reviews / Illusionist revew / Tideland review
The Ladykillers (1955, Alexander Mackendrick)
A charming black comedy about a group of crooks led by Alec Guinness who invade the home of an old lady and eventually conspire to murder her, this isn't as much fun as it probably should be and it's sorely lacking in any kind of real complexity, but the performances are dazzling, and it's interesting to see Peter Sellers play the straight man. (B)
LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: Operation Petticoat review / Kind Hearts & Coronets review / Kind Hearts & Coronets DVD review
The Lady Vanishes (1938, Alfred Hitchcock)
Sigh. What kind of heaven must this have been crafted in? Francois Truffaut famously told the director about his inability to concentrate on the technical achievements of the film, every attempt having been thwarted, seduced by the winning humor and complex characterization and beautifully crafted story. Beautiful Margaret Lockwood is knocked on the head and finds that her friend Miss Froy has disappeared without a trace, so she enlists the aid of charming jerkass Michael Redgrave. Won't reveal anything about the glorious darkness of the final half-hour except to say that Hitchcock knew damn well the world was on the brink of destruction in 1938. Totally disarming and irresistible. (A+)
REVIEW (short) / short comment / essay about Hitchcock's masterpieces / RELATED: Jamaica Inn review / remake of / Jamaica Inn comments / MENTIONED: good romantic endings / War of the Worlds review / Corpse Bride vs. Flightplan / could watch every day
L'Age d'Or (1930, Luis Bunuel)
This is a pretty hilarious movie written by Salvador Dali about this cranky guy trying to have sex with someone and then there's a cow in her bed and then she sucks off a statue. It's sort of a sequel to the peerless short Un Chien Andalou. And at the end the movie declares for no reason that Jesus was a serial rapist. Classic stuff. (A-)
REVIEW / addendum to review / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: Donnie Darko review
The Land Before Time (1988, Don Bluth)
More maudlin shit. Can't Bluth leave anything alone!? What's next, some sentimental slopfest about Rambo's sensitive side? Dinosaurs never ever cried, goddammit! They just ate one another and turned into fossils. (D+)
Land of the Dead (2005, George A. Romero)
Disappointing but enjoyably frenetic fourth film in Romero's DEAD series lacks the satirical insight of the other three, but certainly improves on DAY OF THE DEAD in the thrills department. Dennis Hopper is out and out horrible. Love the gas station zombie! (B-)
REVIEW / anticipation of / LISTED: rated / movies seen theatrically + disappointments / MENTIONED: 2005 movie preview
Last Action Hero (1993, John McTiernan)
Incomprehensible meta-reference-filled movie about movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, I think, who kidnaps a little boy and traps him in his movie? Or something like that? Anyway, loud, long, and too much. (D+)
RELATED: Die Hard review / MENTIONED: Nightmare Before Christmas anecdote
The Last Detail (1973, Hal Ashby)
A film that lingers long after it fades, this comedy about a couple of profane soldiers escorting a peer across the U.S. for a prison tenure is stunningly moving, thanks in large part to Ashby's flawless and endlessly right staging, to say nothing of Robert Towne's vibrant script. Jack Nicholson and Otis Young are excellent, but Randy Quaid steals the film as the doomed, perpetually hopeful young man. Film never falters until its shameful non-ending. (A)
REVIEW / DVD review / followup (in Broadcast News review) / LISTED: rated / best of year / RELATED: Harold & Maude review / Coming Home review
The Last of the Mohicans (1992, Michael Mann)
Brainless, smug retelling of James Fenimore Cooper's tale stages it like some unholy hybrid of DANCES WITH WOLVES and THE TERMINATOR. That someone could manage to create this joyless action film from such off-the-wall source material is the only remarkable thing about the dull movie. (D+)
L.A. Story (1991, Mick Jackson)
Steve Martin wrote this answer to MANHATTAN (inspired by "The Tempest") and in the process crafted an arresting, peculiar love story with tinges of satire and surrealism: a TV weatherman is torn between an addlebrained 23 year-old girl and a witty, complicated British journalist, all the while seeking advice from an enchanted freeway sign. British director Jackson enlivens everything with a sense of whimsy and creates beautiful images to match Martin's gorgeous, larger-than-life story. A genuinely remarkable film, one with as many comments on film itself, storytelling in general, and the truth or lack thereof within both as on Los Angeles as a city (or symbol). My own personal favorite movie. (A+)
REVIEW / new DVD review / DVD review (old) / MENTIONED: self-doubting essay / Lost in Translation & Manhattan reviews / Broadcast News review / Shopgirl anticipation / Roxanne review / Groundhog Day review / Pink Panther rant / Get Smart DVD / former most wanted DVDs / Shopgirl review / La Dolce Vita review
The Last Picture Show (1971, Peter Bogdanovich)
The rare "nostalgic" film that isn't a lie, Bogdanovich's portrait of a small Texas town is enrapturing, full of uncompromising sadness and complexity. Many wonderful performances abound, but Cloris Leachman is heartbreaking and owns the final scene as few actors have owned anything. Beautifully shot in black & white. (A)
REVIEW / DVD review / LISTED: rated / RELATED: Targets review / Targets DVD / MENTIONED: year in movies / Martin review / new AFI list
La Strada (1954, Federico Fellini)
Well-mounted but oppressive story of a helpless girl taken in by a surly circus performer who beats her and makes her life miserable. The tale is touching, the performances (except Richard Basehart as the hunk who temporarily steals the girl's heart) excellent, but the structure is off-balance, making the whole thing seem pointless. Fellini would have done well to allow us to learn more about his characters, or perhaps to even make us care about them. (B)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / RELATED: Nights of Cabiria review / MENTIONED: The Wind review / Breaking the Waves review / year in movies / Knife in the Water review / La Dolce Vita review
Last Tango in Paris (1973, Bernardo Bertolucci)
Widowed man goes to Paris and wanders into a destructive relationship. Not as much fun as a movie that features Marlon Brando engaging in anal sex probably ought to be, but a film of many dimensions and emotions anyway, and quite a treat to watch, especially if you're in one of your brooding stages. (A-)
Laura (1944, Otto Preminger)
This movie's score, by David Raksin, is stunning. Almost everything else in it is useless. Though it's said to be the ultimate film noir, this is actually a rather weak murder mystery that goes nowhere with any of its more interesting notions and wastes time with all of its weaker ones. None of the performers are charismatic enough to carry anything special with them that might make it less bland and inoffensive. As it stands, this is exactly like dozens of other movies. It's unsophisticated, painted in bold and straight lines, full of humor that is bright and sassy but never really witty or devilish, and has not one character who is any different from the person you think you see when s/he first appears. Forget it. (C)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / disappointments / MENTIONED: Ghost & Mrs. Muir review / Big Lebowski review / Heaven Can Wait review / 1000th post
Lawrence of Arabia (1962, David Lean)
Booorrrrrrrrrrrrring. (C-)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / worst of year / RELATED: Bridge on the River Kwai review / MENTIONED: Time Out Film Guide / On the Waterfront review / Gandhi review
Le Corbeau (1943, Henri-Georges Clouzot)
Poisoned letters penetrate a French town in this savory thriller made in France in the midst of the Occupation. Full of clever visuals and sheer horror, this is a masterpiece of its genre. (A)
RELATED: Diabolique review / Diabolique DVD / Wages of Fear review
The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972, Charles B. Pierce)
Hilarious drudgery about Bigfoot-spotting professor who bores a bunch of people with his findings and hires a team that runs around screaming in the woods for him. Fails to deliver on the trashy promise of the opening half-hour. (C-)
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (2006, Lian Lunson)
Messy hybrid of concert film and human documentary haphazardly but fascinatingly tells the story of Cohen's mysterious life and illustrious career through forthcoming, warm interviews and archive footage. The rest of the movie consists of younger artists covering Cohen's classics to varying effect. For all its faults as a film, this is a must for Cohen addicts. (B)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated
Les Miserables (1998, Billie August)
The best version of Les Miserables I've ever seen is a 1970s TV movie starring Anthony Perkins and Cyril Cusack. It is sweeping, miraculous, and beautifully executed. This feature, on the other hand, is a flop despite a perfect cast simply because it doesn't take the time required for a full level of involvement in the story. In the TV film, we saw Veljean at the top and the bottom, and the difference was miraculous. For the duration of this film, Liam Neeson is basically Liam Neeson. Which is fine to an extent, but... (C)
Lethal Weapon (1987, Richard Donner)
At least it's not over two hours, but I really couldn't find anything to like about this movie featuring Mel Gibson as a serial killer dressed like a cop and his pal Danny Glover, too good an actor to waste away in junk like this. Gibson's right at home, of course. (C)
Let It Be (1970, Michael Lindsay-Hogg)
Watching dour and irritable rock musicians is not fun, even if they are the Beatles. You have to admire how down-to-earth they seem to be even at this point, but their bickering grows tiresome, albeit not nearly as tiresome as the third-rate editing and the incompetent length and pacing. As a rock movie, it's passable, because the music is good, even if the cameras only expose the "back to roots" idea as even more hollow than it already sounded; as a documentary, this just doesn't work. (C)
RELATED: ...Naked / Billy Preston obit / MENTIONED: rarity of / beaten by Help!? / Help! finally
A Letter to Three Wives (1949, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Mankiewicz almost manages to go somewhere grand with his half-baked idea this time out, but doesn't quite make it. Three vignettes explore the married lives of a trio of women who have just received, yes, a letter informing them that one of their husbands has just run away with Celeste Holm. Two of the sequences are quite good, one is awful, and there are a few interesting experiments, but the film overall just feels like a few episodes of a reasonably entertaining TV show. (B)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: Twilight Zone CG / har har
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972, John Huston)
Paul Newman grins that awful smug grin of his for the duration of this lazy, equally smug comedy-western. It's neutered whimsy, and it's mostly just annoying. (C)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004, Wes Anderson)
Despite the escapist-comedy plot (and the feeling that it's all just an intellectual exercise), Bill Murray lends this perhaps his best performance thus far, one that balances his two worlds. The movie is charming and sometimes funny, so Murray isn't faced with anything like the task in front of Gene Hackman in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, but he carries the film anyway. Anderson and Baumbach's script is marred by at least one melodramatic plot twist; stop motion effects by Henry Selick are uninspired. (B)
DVD review / Hungry Like the Life Aquatic / LISTED: rated / best DVD's of year / MENTIONED: intention to see / disappointment at good quality of / Black Narcissus review
Lifeboat (1944, Alfred Hitchcock)
A melting pot of wartime folks struggle to survive on a... yeah. From John Steinbeck's concept, this is the first of Hitchcock's great "experiments." LIFEBOAT tackles heavy-handed topics and severely limits its dramatic scope, but manages to be as gripping and entertaining as the director's more conventional films. In these people Hitchcock creates an image of the world that's alternately bleak and hopeful, and in the end it's as valid today as in 1944. (A)
DVD review / plea for DVD release / not coming in 2004 / DVD announcement / RELATED: running out of Hitchcock / Paradine Case DVD review / MENTIONED: Criterion forum / All About Eve DVD review / Match Point review / Knife in the Water review / Best Years of Our Lives review / Stalag 17 review
Life Is Beautiful (1998, Roberto Benigni)
I don't like Roberto Benigni much so this already was at a disadvantage for me, and add that to the sort of glorified "Hogan's Heroes" plotline (bringing the Holocaust into your comedy is pretty tricky and I'm not sure Benigni knows enough about the subject matter to sell it, but what irks me much more is the flippant kids-are-stupid-and-will-believe-anything conceit of the whole franchise) and you've got yet another WWII-related flop. On the upside, a couple of the scenes are better directed than I would have expected (RB's last scene is pretty good, as is his discovery of the mountain of corpses), but it's still a vanity project from an obnoxious actor slash low-tier filmmaker. Great opening titles. (C)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated
A Life Less Ordinary (1997, Danny Boyle)
Romantic comedy (?) about angels following a kidnapper and his hostage, with whom the captor begins to fall in love. Boyle has no right to subject people to this, but up to a point it's tolerable, if twee. It's only at the ending that it becomes really unbearable and impossibly heavy-handed. (C)
The Life of Brian (1979, Terry Jones)
That a film with a concept this subversive -- skewing the Jesus legend, climaxing with the revelation that "life's a piece of shit" -- manages to be so unbearably cutesy is impressive in a fashion. Python fans may enjoy this. Others will be irritated beyond belief, and not just the weirdos with morals. (C-)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated
Life Stinks (1991, Mel Brooks)
Brooks' worst film, a wrongheaded attempt at social commentary about a millionaire who accepts a bet that he can't survive on the streets. Homeless people don't come off too well here, but then, no one does. (C-)
Lilo and Stitch (2002, Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois)
A little girl ends up keeping an alien as a pet, to the chagrin of his leaders. Blockbuster Disney hand-drawn film -- the last to date -- is pure heaven for the first forty-five minutes, executed with sublime wit and perfection, but then they throw in the plot, which is just a bore. Still a fine attempt at recovery. (A-)
REVIEW / LISTED: best of year / rated / RELATED: comments on Chicken Little
The Lion King (1994, Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff)
Pretty dismal BAMBI retread follows the story of a lion cub who ascends to power in the wake of his father's death while being trailed by the Mob, or something. Some sublime animation here, and the serious scenes are kind of ingratiating, but the whole film is just so Don Bluth maudlin and the obligatory comic relief is absolutely wrong. This is classic nothing. (C+)
RELATED: Joe Grant obit / Beauty and the Beast review / MENTIONED: I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang review / Nigtmare Before Christmas anecdote / 2006 movie preview / summer movie preview
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005, Andrew Adamson)
C.S. Lewis' first Narnia novel comes alive, sort of, in this fast-paced action film that looks more like a video game than a movie. Oppressively straightforward adaptation will be fun for those who like the book a great deal, but it does nothing with the material, not that it really could. (B-)
REVIEW / religious campaign around theater experience / year in movies / LISTED: movies seen theatrically / rated / MENTIONED: 2005 movie preview / movies out soon / intention to see / Over the Hedge trailer / summer movie preview
The Little Mermaid (1989, John Musker & Ron Clements)
Supposed return to greatness for the Disney studio under the leadership of Jeffrey Katzenberg really isn't terribly inspired at all, with weak characters and animation, obnoxious "comedy," and hardly any kind of warmth or humanity. It's a complete failure both cinematically and as an adaptation, exploiting nothing interesting about Hans Christian Anderson's material. But I will confess that a couple of the songs are excellent. (C+)
RELATED: Beauty and the Beast review / MENTIONED: Frank Capra Jr. lecture
Little Miss Sunshine (2006, Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Farris)
You wouldn't expect that a movie this original and lively, a humanistic masterpiece of our time, could possibly come out of such a basic stock American comedy plotline: a family goes on a long road trip to take a little girl to compete in a beauty pageant. By the time you reach the ice cream sequence, which by itself tackles more idiotic cultural concessions to conformity than a hundred more serious films, you realize you are witnessing something, and it only gets better. Kudos and more kudos to a fine cast, with special note for the delightful Alan Arkin. (A)
REVIEW / DVD review / note on DVD / Alan Arkin @ Oscars / LISTED: rated / best of year + movies seen in 2006 / MENTIONED: summer movie preview / Looney Tunes
A Little Princess (1995, Alfonso Cuaron)
Smart girl is stuck at a shitty boarding school during WWI, does something about it. The kind of movie people are always saying isn't made anymore, this brilliantly crafted Frances Hodgson Burnett adaptation crafts a world apart and manages more wonder and dimension than a thousand LION KINGs. (A-)
RELATED: Great Expectations review / Children of Men review
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960, Roger Corman)
The part with Jack Nicholson really is funny, but nothing else in this dumb Corman black comedy about a murderous plant is worth more than a faint chuckle. Still, it certainly beats the musical. (C+)
Little Shop of Horrors (1986, Frank Oz)
Dull Ashman-Menken musical is basically just an excuse for a bunch of overwrought special effects; at least I hope it is, as weak as the "humor" in the first half is. I don't remember any of the songs; I'm sort of glad. (C-)
Little Women (1994, Gillian Armstrong)
Though Armstrong doesn't bring quite as much to the proceedings as one might hope, this Alcott rendition has the best cast one could want in any kind of film, particularly this kind. Winona Ryder anchors the handsome production tremendously well, and the script is sly and touching. (B+)
Live and Let Die (1973, Guy Hamilton)
A pretty good (and rather goofy) James Bond film, a dismal film by all other standards. I do enjoy the part where the guy blows up, though. (C)
The Living Daylights (1987, John Glen)
Timothy Dalton debuts as Bond in this tiresome, fully-loaded action pic, darker than usual for the Bond series but sadly no more interesting. (C)
The Lodger (1926, Alfred Hitchcock)
Hitchcock's first major film (about the dubious identity of Ivor Novello, who may or may not be Jack the Ripper) and very first suspense thriller bursts with potential; the German influence is obvious in this expressionistic, shadowy mystery. The memories that result are vivid to the point that one can scarcely believe there's no dialogue. (A-)
REVIEW (short) / RELATED: Suspicion review / remake of / MENTIONED: Nosferatu review / All Quiet on the Western Front DVD review
Logan's Run (1976, Michael Anderson)
Just in case you need to be reminded, it isn't all George Lucas' fault. (D+)
Lolita (1962, Stanley Kubrick)
Intricate, funny, unexpectedly moving story of an English professor's infatuation for a young girl and the ups and downs that result in their lives. Kubrick has a major task to contend with in adapting one of the greatest and most beautiful novels ever written to the Hollywood screen, but what he crafts is truly extraordinary, containing stunning work from the entire cast, particularly the shattering Shelley Winters, and of course Peter Sellers, in his greatest role ever as Quilty. The movie is gleefully complicated, gleefully amoral in its characterizations. It dares us to judge characters who all share considerable traits with ourselves. It dares us to love evil and despise good. Nothing in it feels like a lie. Bad things happen, people do despicable things, and as Lolita says, "I guess that's just the way things are." The final scenes are beyond devastating. (A+)
REVIEW / RELATED: review of Adrian Lyne film & comparison to Kubrick's / Barry Lyndon review / some Nabokov stuff / Shelley Winters obit / Eyes Wide Shut review / MENTIONED: Man Who Knew Too Much [34] review / Happiness review / 'Deliverance' book review / top ten of the week / The Party review / 1000th post / new Kubrick box
Lolita (1998, Adrian Lyne)
Dark, dreary, elegant, yet oddly simplistic reevaluation of the novel claims to be a more faithful adaptation than the one Kubrick made, and that may be true in theory, but in spirit, Lyne misses the boat, cutting things far too neatly. And where's the humor? Nonetheless, excellent performances by Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain. (B)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / RELATED: review of Kubrick film & comparison to Lyne's / MENTIONED: Man Who Knew Too Much [34] review
The Lonely Guy (1984, Arthur Hiller)
Lazy Steve Martin comedy has its moments and a great lead performance, but loses energy fast. (B-)
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2006, Albert Brooks)
Comedian Albert Brooks ("I was in FINDING NEMO!") is sent by the government to the Middle East to find out what makes Muslims laugh. Out of that bizarre premise comes a genuinely (if subtly) vitriolic piece of sociopolitical satire. Hysterical but very low-key, it's bound to create chasms in the audience and is all the better for it. (A-)
REVIEW / reaction / A. Brooks in the news / going to see! / LISTED: rated / best of year + movies seen in 2006 / RELATED: Real Life review / MENTIONED: theatrical runs
Look Who's Talking (1989, Amy Heckerling)
John Travolta and Kirstie Alley fuck around on the screen and we only get to hear the good actor, Bruce Willis, who's relegated to providing the voice of Alley's baby. If there's some ring of truth to all this I can't sense it. (D+)
Look Who's Talking Now (1993, Tom Riplewski)
Now it's the dogs who are talking. Sooner or later the furniture will start. (D)
Look Who's Talking Too (1990, Amy Heckerling)
Holy shit, they make a sequel to this fast. It shows, too, with an appallingly dumb plot (the house burns down) and shitty voice work by an overbearing Roseanne Barr. Why? (D-)
The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981, Friz Freleng)
Second Looney Tunes "feature" is more of the same, a bunch of shorts the filmmakers pretend belong together, this time mostly with Freleng's cartoons. (B-)
Lord of the Flies (1963, Peter Brook)
Brilliantly photographed film (with one of the all-time great title sequences) is cold and detached in the manner of DIABOLIQUE, preventing it from really delivering as great storytelling or filmmaking. If the goal is simply to summarize a novel, why make the film? Still a treat to look at, at least. (B+)
REVIEW / reaction / MENTIONED: Goodbye Mr. Chips review / Dogville review / year in movies / Knife in the Water review / Goodfellas review / Stalag 17 review
Lord of the Flies (1990, Harry Hook)
Features one of the most excruciating death scenes in any movie. Otherwise, see above. (B)
comparison to older film / RELATED: review of 1963 film / MENTIONED: Goodbye Mr. Chips review / Dogville review / year in movies / Knife in the Water review
The Lord of the Rings (1978, Ralph Bakshi)
I had to watch this in school once and couldn't make head or tail of it; they say it ends halfway through the story. I certainly couldn't tell. (D+)
MENTIONED: Narnia review
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001, Peter Jackson)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002, Peter Jackson)
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003, Peter Jackson)
Lots of man-boy and boy-boy love, lots of rotten and immediately dated special effects, lots of phony dramatics and narrative padding. A slavish devotion to the source material, and a certain admirable spectacle along with it, is obvious. Unfortunately the source material sucks, and so do the movies. By the third (and worst) entry, you're just watching a lousy Saturday morning cartoon, just one with a gajillion dollars wrapped up in it. Disappointing distraction from fine director Jackson's usual great work. And, all told, nine hours of this shit! And some people have longer versions they like to watch! (C)
LOTR 1 REVIEW / LOTR 2 REVIEW / LOTR 3 REVIEW / reaction to ROTK's Oscar win / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: Dawn of the Dead DVD comments / H2G2 review / Time's 100 Best list / Clerks II at Sundance / Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? review / Top 250 / Kill Bill Vol. 1 review
Losin' It (1983, Curtis Hanson)
Hanson fans may wish to skip this boring '80s comedy about Tom Cruise in Tijuana. I don't know why I didn't. (D)
The Lost Boys (1987, Joel Schumacher)
Typical Schumacher homoerotic nonsense about a bunch of teenage vampires who like the Doors and cause trouble in the suburbs. As if we needed a remake of REEFER MADNESS. (D)
Lost in America (1985, Albert Brooks)
Brooks is lost indeed here, setting up a swell plotline about a couple of Boomers who sell their house, quit their jobs, and decide to live in a perpetual cross-country drive. Then the gambling starts. The film sells itself short halfway through and never recovers, with an uncomfortably abrupt conclusion. There are a few laughs, but it's nothing new. (B-)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / disappointments / RELATED: Brooks in the news / Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World review
Lost in Translation (2003, Sofia Coppola)
Plotless but exhilirating, seductive story of lonely wife Scarlett Johansson stuck in a hotel room in Tokyo, gradually forging a bond with culture-shocked actor Bill Murray. The performances of both are stunning, Coppola's style and sense of place arresting, and the whole thing remarkably moving. (A)
REVIEW / RELATED: Marie Antoinette review / MENTIONED: Life Aquatic DVD review / Breathless review / top ten of the week / The Party review / Shopgirl + Scoop reviews
The Lost Weekend (1945, Billy Wilder)
Wilder tries here to come up with a really uncompromising picture of alcoholism, ends up with some kind of jumbled cartoon about Ray Milland going nuts and hallucinating about papier-mache bats. Terribly dated stuff, and it doesn't help that Jane Wyman periodically wanders in. (C+)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / disappointments / MENTIONED: Days of Wine and Roses review / 1000th post
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997, Steven Spielberg)
Spielberg's worst film to date, this irritating JURASSIC PARK sequel has one good setpiece -- involving a rear windshield -- but is insanely unfocused, loud, and pointless, not even good enough to revel in the trashiness of its premise. This wasn't directed, it was manufactured. (D+)
RELATED: Minority Report review / Amistad review / Saving Private Ryan review
Love and Death (1975, Woody Allen)
Woody Allen attempts to do something Highbrow for the first of many times; in this case he gets a few jokes out of his many allusions to obscure literature and Bergman movies, but the film feels a little bit like going out on a date with someone who is absolutely dedicated to nothing but convincing you of how smart they are. (B)
The Love Bug (1969, Robert Stevenson)
Back when the Love Bug was a car and not a disease, people had fun watching this Volkswagen terrorize people with its independent-minded behavior. These days we just can't lose ourselves in the farce. It's our loss, maybe. Or maybe not. (C)
Love Liza (2002, Todd Louiso)
Philip Seymour Hoffman's wife kills herself and writes a note that no one wants to open, so he starts playing with model airplanes and drinking gasoline. Makes sense to me! What's your problem? (C+)
Love on the Run (1979, Francois Truffaut)
Supposedly a huge misfire, this episodic retrospective of the Antoine Doinel series serves as a career summary of sorts for the young hero and his creator. Clips from various films illustrate his manner and shortcomings while the women in his life discuss him. It's a movie about choosing to live the way you wish and having a lot of trouble deciding which way that is. A little cutesy, maybe, and more inconsequential than the other films in the series, but insightful and fun. (A-)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / best of year
Love Potion No. 9 (1992, Dale Launer)
It's generally not a great idea to turn a pop song into a movie. Especially when Sandra Bullock is involved. (D+)
Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN (1966, Byron Paul)
Dick Van Dyke is rather fun in this colorful but incessantly annoying festival of bitchery about a castaway terrified by a group of scantily clad women who want him to... I'm not sure I know what they want. Van Dyke must get away! Because it's a Disney film! After all, what would Laura say? (C)
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